MH17 investigation to continue when safe, Australian forensic experts likely to return to crash site: Abbott

Tony Abbott and Dutch counterpart Mark Rutte vow to bring justice to victims of flight MH17 at a press conference in The Hague.

AFP: Martijn Beekman

Prime Minister Tony Abbott says in all likelihood Australian forensic experts will return to eastern Ukraine to try and complete the task of recovering the remains of victims of the MH17 disaster.

During a visit to the Netherlands, the Prime Minister said more can and will be done to make sure no Australian is left in a field in Ukraine.

Mr Abbott, together with Dutch prime minister Mark Rutte, vowed to bring justice to the families of victims of flight MH17, despite the search for body parts being halted because of fighting in eastern Ukraine.

"We owe it to the dead, we owe it to the grieving families to bring them home and to give them justice," he said.

At a press conference in The Hague, Mr Abbott told Mr Rutte: "We are not just partners in grief, but partners in demanding justice in the face of this terrible atrocity."

Mr Abbott travelled to the Netherlands to meet Australians involved in the recovery operation, as well as to thank the Dutch people for their compassion, dignity and leadership in responding to the loss of the flight.

The Prime Minister was briefed on the investigation into who was responsible for the downing of the plane and said that briefing confirmed there was very strong circumstantial evidence suggesting Russia bore a heavy share of the blame.

Mr Abbott said tougher sanctions against Russia are on the table, but suggested the measures already taken by the international community are starting to bite.

"It may well be that Russia is deciding that the cost of bullying is too high," he said.

Investigation 'certainly hasn't finished'

Australia lost 38 citizens and residents and the Netherlands lost 193 citizens when the Malaysia Airlines plane en route from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur was shot down over eastern Ukraine on July 17, killing all 298 on board.

Dutch, Australian and Malaysian forensic experts went to the crash site to retrieve body parts but their search was suspended last Wednesday.

Investigators flew back to the Netherlands after it became too dangerous to stay in the area - the scene of rising clashes between Kiev and pro-Russian separatists.

The West accuses pro-Moscow rebels of shooting down the plane, while Russia has blamed Ukraine.

"While the operation has been suspended ... it certainly hasn't been finished," Mr Abbott said.

Mr Rutte said there are plans for investigators to return to the crash site.

"We're putting our work on hold, but we're not stopping," he said.

"Prime Minister Abbott and I are committed to resuming the work at the crash site as soon as the situation stabilises sufficiently."

More than 220 coffins filled with remains have been taken to the Netherlands where the painstaking process of identifying the victims has begun.

By Saturday, 65 victims of the crash had been identified, the Dutch government said.

"The reception of the bodies ... was a moment when people who have not been treated properly in life at least were treated properly in death," Mr Abbott said.

"It reflected so well on the Dutch people."

Mr Abbott is now in London, where he will receive security briefings from UK ministers and agencies.